Eclipse Mania

It is everywhere. The previews started months ago, but the merchandising blitz from the last movie wasn't even over yet. Did it ever really go away? No doubt, you have seen "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" written somewhere recently. There are dolls, bumper stickers, clothing, anything and everything anyone could ever think of baring the images of the three main stars of the Twilight Series' third movie.

In case you haven't heard, or just didn't care enough to listen, the movie opened early, early this morning. I had grown adult girlfriends -who had to get up this morning and take care of little ones- go to premier parties and buy their tickets months in advance just to be among the first to say that they've seen it.

I like a good love story and enjoy a fair share of science fiction so my curiosity was easily won over to read the series and check out this whole Twilight thing for myself. I can honestly say that I read all four books and have come away with some really mixed feelings.

I did like the action and the romance, but only to a degree. The suspense kept me reading the first three books and obligation to finish what I had started drug me through the final one.

I did not care for the heroine, Bella, at all. She seemed weak and shallow at times. But what disappointed me the most about her surfaced in the second book. She needed a man to function. She needed a guy to be happy - if not one guy, then the other. She placed Edward and Jacob in the spot that Jesus should fill.

It was so obvious to me as I read the books and watched the first two movies that the fan crazy mania over anything twilight was indicative of some much bigger, sadder trends in our society and culture's way of thinking.

It's getting late, so I will tackle the things I learned from Twilight in my post tomorrow.